الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In 1967, Tomisaku Kawasaki described 50 Japanese children with an illness characterized by fever, rash, conjunctival injection, erythema and swelling of hands and feet, and cervical lymphadenopathy and described the condition to be the mucocutaneus lymph node syndrome, which is now recognized as Kawasaki disease (KD), which is the second commenest vasculitic illnesses of childhood as the HenochSchonlien purpura being the commonest. Despite intensive research into the illness, the cause remains unknown; although there have been significant improvements in diagnosis and treatment of children with the disease, there are still a number of important unanswered questions regarding therapy. Furthermore, there is still no diagnostic test available for KD. It appears increasingly likely that an infectious agent acts as a superantigen, which disturbs the immuneregulatory mechanisms in genetically predisposed individuals. Treatment of KD is aimed at reducing inflammation, and preventing the occurrence of coronary artery aneurysms and arterial thrombosis. Intravenous immunoglobulin and aspirin remains the most effective combination in treatment of KD although the use of corticosteroids remains controversial. Conclusion: from data mentioned in this essay we can conclude that, more effort must be done to confirm the etiologic agent of Kawasaki disease, which is considered the most common leading cause of acquired heart disease worldwide especially for pediatric age group. Recommendations: A survey study either retrospective or prospective must be done in Egypt to determine the actual magnitude of Kawasaki disease as a worldwide problem.